Description:
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I suggest adding a function htmlentities_decode() as a replacement for html_entity_decode() and possibly deprecate that one.
It is really misleading and unintuitive because there are functions htmlspecialchars() and htmlspecialchars_decode() doing similar thing.

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[2010-07-25 00:19 UTC] giorgio dot liscio at email dot it

php functions uses a lot of different syntax
isset
is_array
isPublic
but aliasing is evil and renaming is not appreciated by users... the best thing you can do is implement your renamed function in your namespace
bye

[2010-07-29 02:05 UTC] php-bugs at majkl578 dot cz

Yes and that is what I think should change, because current naming conventions are really horrible. For instance, look at differences between str_replace, strlen, parse_str, htmlspecialchars. All work with same type but their names are completely different.
So, string functions should go to String namespace (String\replace()), array functions to Array namespace (Array\search()) and so on.
But unfortunately this will not happen because PHP does not like changes... Think about it.

We don't mind change, but our users really really don't like it when we break
their working applications for cosmetic reasons.

[2013-01-23 17:06 UTC] lenton64 at gmail dot com

I feel that this is a big problem in PHP. It makes it super hard to remember
function names (especially for newcomers) with these inconsistencies and gives
PHP an ugly syntax reputation.
Please change all function names to:
words_separated_with_underscore()
and then alias the original functions to the new ones.
It may take a long time for everyone to change the functions in their
applications but you can keep them aliased for however long everyone needs.
This naming convention needs to become a standard in PHP at some point, why not
get the ball rolling now.

[2013-01-24 02:46 UTC] php at lavoie dot sl

The core functions’ naming is one the most frowned upon "feature" of PHP and it
is well overdue for a refactor. Old frameworks and application are a pain to
convert, and it pretty pointless to do it for a cosmetic reason as rasmus pointed
out, but I think the core devs are underestimating how much the community wants
it done and how many people are willing to do their part.
Let’s face it:
• htmlentities/html_entity_decode
• str_replace/strtr
• current/array_pop
• array_push($array, $item)/array_search($item, $array)
I believe a very responsible roadmap would be to :
1. Create a PHP library that would essentially just wrap a function in another with consistent naming and arguments order.
2. Get some feedback of the community and work on the names. The guys at FIG would probably be a blessing on that.
3. Implement those using aliasing and a compiled extension.
4. Let it sit for a couple time while people get to know about it.
5. Merge extension into core. Real world application will begin to use it.
6. Drop the deprecated ones in a distant future.

[2013-01-24 04:03 UTC] nishant dot kanitkar at gmail dot com

I don't see why this can't be done.
Alias the functions to a single standard and depreciate the old ones.
In the next version of PHP, add a configuration toggle ALLOW_LEGACY_FUNCTIONS set to default false.
If ALLOW_LEGACY_FUNCTIONS is true, all the depreciated functions work as expected.
If ALLOW_LEGACY_FUNCTIONS is false, all the depreciated functions throw errors.
Keep the toggle in all future versions of PHP. Eventually applications using the legacy function names
will either run a search-and-replace or fall out of use. It wouldn't be too difficult to migrate if the
only change is a name change.

[2013-01-24 14:03 UTC] turneliusz at gmail dot com

Excuse me rasmus but WHY NOT? It's completely normal evolution process. Let's deprecated all things that have inconsistent naming in PHP 5.6 to be able to just remove them in PHP 6.0 where breaking compatibility would be possible. It would be just great to have PHP 6.0 as PHP 5.x with consistent function naming convention, with removed all of deprecated stuff.

[2013-01-24 15:54 UTC] chris at cgsmith dot net

It seems silly for any developer to change certain function names even though it
is something in the back of there head. It comes down to, "if it isn't broke,
why
fix it?".
But for a community this large and people that are trying out PHP and learning
best practices, this needs to be done.
However, there needs to be a vote on the naming conventions that are used.
Perhaps following PSR-1 or PSR-2.

[2013-01-24 16:43 UTC] turneliusz at gmail dot com

I think we should keep current look and
feel of this low level part of PHP,
functions. I don't believe PSR have
anything to do with that naming
conventions. It could end up with some
huge proposal about moving functions to
some namespaces which would be huge
change. I think it's just simple
renaming we have to do. A real proposal
about revolution in functions could be
IMO autoboxing but this is another
topic. And BTW that idea about providing
switches in php.int could make huge
mess. Let's deprecate and in major
release remove, no incompatibility with
same versions of PHP due to some magic

+1 for fixing naming conventions. It would be REALLY easy for most developers to
refactor. The only exception being those who created their own functions with
names that would be used by php core functions. That is if something was
coreFunction() and the user created core_function(/*some custom function with
almost the same name*/) and the new release changed to underscores.
It would be a burden on hosting companies to not break their users' software via
an upgrade though. Someone with an old application and no one maintaining it
could be in trouble if their host upgraded.

[2013-08-01 20:05 UTC] duke at ejoom dot com

I agree for consistency. I've develop at PHP over 7 years and It's annoying that some time I should look up the proper function name or order (when editing without IDE).
By semver 2.0 we can do PHP ver. 6.0 with BC. So there projects can exist at 5.x. There is huge frameworks like Symphony and Zend Framework, Drupal and Joomla that was rewritten almost from scratch to utilize new features and architecture.
So GIVE people to choose which consistency to use CURRENT or NEW. After a one-two years It will appear needs for it or contraries.